With Saturday's loss to the Washington Redskins, the Philadelphia Eagles were officially eliminated from playoff contention. While that alone may be bad enough, there may be some implications for 2016 that the Eagles may prefer not to be part of. One is on the field, and one is on the television screen.
First, Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets that next week's game could have major schedule implications for the Eagles heading into 2016:
Re: Eagles' '16 schedule — If Eagles win Sunday, they play at SEA, host ATL. If Eagles lose, they play Rams in London and host either NO/TB
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) December 28, 2015
At least for Eagles fans, that will not mean that the Eagles lose a home game; St. Louis will be the home team in London no matter what, despite the fact that the City of St. Louis does not like the idea so much.
And, there is the issue of the Eagles being exposed on HBO. Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice points out that the Eagles now find themselves qualified to be the center of the HBO series, "Hard Knocks":
Kelly wants HBO invading his training camp like he wants a root canal. However, because the Eagles have been eliminated from the playoffs in 2015, if Chip Kelly remains the head coach of the team, the NFL can force the Eagles to be the subject of the show.
As Kempski notes, the NFL can ask for volunteers, but if there is none, the Eagles can meet the qualifications, identified by Deadspin:
The NFL can't force a franchise to go on the show if it:
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Has made the playoffs in one of the previous two seasons
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Has a new head coach
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Has appeared on Hard Knocks within the last 10 years
If the Eagles are getting attention for the wrong reasons this season, the HBO special would certain bring a lot attention to the team if they are selected.
Sunday's 1:00 p.m. game against the New York Giants will be the Eagles' 2015 farewell, no matter what. If they Eagles win, they can do themselves the favor of not traveling across the Atlantic Ocean. but, they may not be able to dodge "Hard Knocks", either way. Unless, of course, the Eagles dismiss head coach Chip Kelly, but that is not generally considered likely at this time.
